Everything will be fine
by Tori Aoshiro
Summary: The revolution is barely over when Simon vanishes for several hours too long. When he comes home to his three anxious partners, it's with a bunch of kids he found in the streets of the abandoned city and a rather special request in these times of rebellion : "Can we keep them?"


I actually wrote this a while ago and posted it on tumblr, but I just recently realized I forgot to post it here! I hope you'll enjoy this little thing. I wrote it after seeing an adorable picture/prompt by jujisart.

This is a post-good end scenario, and by that I mean a pacifist ending where everyone survived. Also, Markus is in a polyamorous quad with North, Simon and Josh, because I was frustrated about the lack of romantic options in the game.

Alright, I'm done! Please enjoy!

* * *

The revolution was barely over when it happened. When Simon left the abandoned church that stood as a new temporary Jericho and didn't come back when he said he would.

At first, nobody was worried, and there was enough to do: tending to the wounded, mourning the dead, finding clothes for the androids that had survived the recycling camps. The city had been mostly deserted by humans, soldiers and civilians alike, until a clear agreement was reached, so some, like Simon, had gone out to find whatever they could use.

Markus was helping around, watching and comforting, when he noticed the first people coming back. Simon was a little late, but that was no surprise, his target had been an android store on the other side of town.

Then North showed up for a situation update. Apparently, some human ambassador had been asking for a face-to-face conference in the following days. After an hour of planning the encounter, North had send a draft to Town Center. Nothing too pressing. Markus quickly looked around, making sure everything was going smoothly. He noticed most androids who had gone out were back. Simon wasn't with them.

He looked for him all over the crowded old church, but he was just not there yet. Why? The store was far, but he should be back by now. Was he in trouble? What could have gone wrong? No.

He started pacing nervously around the church, closer to the front door without even noticing.

No, nothing could go wrong. Not now. They were about to reach an agreement, the humans were starting to listen. If Simon was attacked by ill-intentioned humans, because if something went wrong it had to be this, Simon was way too measured and clever to intentionally provoke anyone, and if he was attacked, it could compromise everything.

Time passed, all the androids were back now, except for Simon. Now, there was no doubt something had happened. North and Josh started worrying as well, North immediately suspecting a surprise attack, or Simon being kidnapped for information. But if that was the case, going out to find him would be risqué. They had come so far but things could still go downhill.

Markus let some more time pass, a matter of minutes, before standing up and announcing to North and Josh he was going to look for Simon. Alone. Yes, it was dangerous, but if there really had been an attack, he'd be harder to spot.

Of course, the consecutive argument with the two took another ten minutes. Eventually, he just wanted to head out regardless, but a faint signal silenced him on the spot. North and Josh sensed it moments after him. It was a message, from the very limit of his communication field, a block away from the church. An information. _I'm here._

"Simon."

Markus rushed out into the empty streets, leaving an uncertain North and relieved Josh behind. He hurried to the source of the signal, praying rA9 that Simon, _his_ Simon, was fine. At least he was back and alive. He would explain what took him so long.

He turned around the corner, trying to spot the blond android, perhaps traces of thirium or the sound of a limp in the snow. Instead, he saw a small group of people walking slowly towards him in the distance and froze for a second.

Four silhouettes were significantly smaller than the fifth one and were closely gathered around it. Four children, one adult? He started walking again, faster, almost running when he could make out the adult's face.

"Simon!"

"Hello Markus!" Simon shouted back, and then said something to the children that Markus couldn't hear yet. He was smiling brightly and as he closed in to a stop, Markus realized he had not only dragged four children, android children according the LED lights on their temples, back with him, he was also carrying two others — the first one in his arms, the second one on his back. They were all clinging to him like he was a lifeline, slowing him down to a strolling pace.

"What happened?"

"I was on my way," Simon started apologetically, "but I found Isaac in the snow so I decided to help him. Then I ran into Edwin who led me to where Ria was hiding, and on the way there, Jenny started to follow us…"

Markus interrupted him with a nod. "Alright, I understand. You can tell me the whole story later."

He looked down at the six children, attempting a comforting smile. They had probably been handed over to the police, or abandoned by their owners during the revolution. They were all different models from CyberLife's child range, different heights and appearances. The little girl in Simon's arms though, Markus did not recognize her model. She was clinging to his collar, looking at Markus with uneasiness, shaking, her breathing fast and uneven. She did not have an LED.

"Simon, this is a human child," he said, disbelievingly.

Simon nodded, not losing his smile but holding the little girl a bit closer. "This is Ria," he introduced her. She had light brown hair that looked like it hadn't been combed in a while, and expressive hazelnut eyes hiding in Simon's chest intermittently.

"Her parents must be looking for her everywhere. We should take her home," Markus warned.

Ria glared at him, her body tensing up like she was getting ready to put up a fight. A blond boy android walking with his thumb in his mouth on Simon's left also seemed to pay more attention when he heard that, his fist clenching over the fabric of Simon's pants pocket he was holding.

"She doesn't want to go home," Simon said calmly, drilling his eyes into Markus's gaze. "None of them really have a 'home' anymore, so I offered to take them with me." He gave the children one of the softest, fondest looks Markus had ever seen on him. If he omitted the situation for a brief moment, he could even admit it was an adorable sight, the android caring for a bunch of kids like a mother hen with her chicks. "They followed me here so… Can we keep them Markus?"

"We, as in Jericho?"

"We, as in us, Markus," Simon clarified, staring back at Markus again, straight in the eyes.

Markus blinked. He had not expected this situation, or in any case, not here, or now. Maybe later, when everything had settled down and he could imagine a future for him and his three partners. But for now, he hadn't even thought of the possibility of taking care of a child, let alone six. "Simon, you know our situation is still very delicate," he tried to reason. "Is now really the time to get distracted? We're on a good path but another incident might shift the balance against us again."

Now, there were children androids in Jericho, plenty of them actually. All androids were welcome to join the movement after all. The rare ones who didn't have a regular caretaker among the adults could usually find one quickly, although they tended to be more independent as the situation called for it — something in their programming allowing them to adapt easier, to be more flexible than adult androids were. But having six different kids looking up to them specifically was a whole different matter. It meant more personal investment than he knew, believed? himself able to provide.

"You're right," Simon admitted, and his gaze grew more determined as he spoke. "But that's also why we should keep them. If something goes wrong again, they need someone to look after them."

"Someone else can do it."

"Why, if we can as well?"

That argument was hard to refute. Markus sighed, knowing that he was losing. "How would we even care for six children? Not to mention one of them is human."

"I can take care of them," Simon assured, and Markus raised a disbelieving yet amused eyebrow.

"Simon, you cannot take care of six children."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but my PL600 programming says otherwise," was the cocky response followed by a playful smirk. Markus almost smiled at this. Almost. "I can take care of six children while simultaneously keeping a household in order, managing professional communications, and keeping everyone on track with their daily activities," Simon continued. "I was literally made for this, Markus."

That was not something he usually boasted about, but he seemed so happy about having children to care for, Markus couldn't deny that was a free decision if anything. "Well, we don't really have a household, but if you can manage, then we will keep them for now." He nodded at the road, joining Simon's side for the rest of the walk home. "Come on, let's go. You might want to ask North and Josh though," he added as their group started walking again, at the slow pace of tiny feet stomping in the snow.

"I'm not worried. You agreed, so they will be okay with it too," Simon smiled, in that way that always gave Markus a little rush of thirium in his cheeks.

He tried to distract himself by looking at the children. He was still a bit worried about Ria, and also slightly curious as to why she had run away to Simon. But the girl was still acting rather cold to him, probably because of stress and fear. He would have to postpone any questions he had about her.

"Does anybody want to introduce themselves?" Simon asked gently as they kept strolling back to the church. At this pace, they still had at least fifteen minutes to fill. None of the kids really seemed eager to speak though, shyly looking at Markus and at their surroundings as they clung to Simon's clothes. Should he wait? Simon was looking at him encouragingly.

"I'll go first?" Markus tried, and suddenly there were six more pairs of eyes on him. He felt a little nervous. He had made inspiring speeches in front of hundreds of androids, thousands of humans. Somehow this felt different. He tried to smile again. "My name is Markus," he started. "I'm…" Okay, now what? An android? A deviant? Jericho's leader? "Simon's partner." Now that seemed to have caught their attention.

"Are you his boyfriend?" asked the little boy on Simon's back, which made the other kids giggle. Markus was silent, not really knowing what to say. His expression probably gave it away because the little boy continued. "It's okay. My fathers didn't like to say they were boyfriends either."

"That's because some people are comfortable with different terms," Simon told him gently.

However, the subject of their relationship seemed to have warmed the children up a little. "You like, like each other?"

"Do you go on dates often, with the candles and everything?"

"Do you kiss? Do you…"

"How about we finish introducing ourselves first?" Simon offered before anything went too far. The children stopped. Simon looked over them encouragingly. "You already know Ria," he pointed out, bouncing the little girl in his arms to make her smile. "How about you go next, Edwin?"

He was talking to the blond little boy on his left, the one who hadn't said anything, still sucking his thumb. He looked up at Markus before taking his thumb out for a short moment. "My name is Edwin," he said. "I'm Ria's brother." Before he could start sucking on it again, Markus noticed the tip of his thumb was cut open deeply and leaking thirium.

"Nice to meet you, Edwin," he started diplomatically. "If I can give you an advice, the suction on your thumb is keeping your auto-repair system from closing the wound. Maybe you should try not to suck on it for a little while."

"Leave him alone," Ria growled and Markus straightened, leaning away slightly. Edwin took a short look at his thumb, at the blue liquid still leaking from it, at the snow. Then he put it back in his mouth. He didn't add anything.

Sensing the tension growing again, Simon tried to get the other kids to introduce themselves. The little boy on his back, the one who mentioned once having two dads, held him tighter so he could put his head over Simon's shoulder. "My name is Isaac," he said, smiling warmly. He had black skin and the cutest round eyes and his right ankle was bent in a way that called for limb replacement.

"What happened to your foot?" Markus asked.

"I fell down the stairs," was all he said. Despite his injury, he looked very calm.

"Because of the snow. It was all slippery," said a girl on Simon's right, both the tallest and oldest looking of the bunch. Her red hair was split into low pigtails and her face was sprinkled with freckles. "My name is Lindy," she added, moments after, looking up at Markus who nodded in acknowledgement. "This is Jenny, over there."

She pointed her head at the girl walking next to Edwin, on Simon's left. She had brown skin and very thick hair being held back by a hairband. "Hi," she said, waving.

"And this is Jamie," Lindy finished, tapping a finger on the tiny boy by her side who immediately looked away, trying to avoid any eye contact. He was the smallest and being next to her made him look even smaller. His hair was blond with a brown undercut and his blue eyes had a permanent glint of fear in them.

"Are you okay?" Markus asked.

Jamie nodded, looking up at him for just a second before looking away again. He seemed rather quiet. Markus decided not to push.

"We're there," Simon told the children, as they approached the church's doorstep.

"That's a church," Jenny pointed out innocently.

"Is Jericho a religion?" Lindy asked.

"No, it's a large group of people like us, protecting each other," Markus answered almost mindlessly.

"Like a family, then," Isaac said. Almost all the other kids gave him weird looks. Only Jenny nodded, looking a little nostalgic.

"It used to be a boat," Simon mentioned.

That made Ria's eyes twinkle. "A boat?! Really?"

Simon chuckled. "I'll tell you all about this later. For now, we need to get you out of the cold and tell everyone about you."

"We don't have much right now," Markus said, stepping forward to hold the door. "But things will get better."

Simon let the children enter the building before him, and as he walked past Markus, he stopped, just for a second, to peck him on the cheek. Markus was not one for PDA, but Simon liked it a lot, and right now he didn't seem to mind it too much. "Everything will be fine," he said confidently. "Trust me."

Markus smiled. Trust Simon. That he could do.


End file.
